Biodiesel Piggie #2 Buildup (was Sad Sad day...)

[dieselcruiserhead]

Started going to town really prepping the frame, removing all body mounts and getting it ready for sand blasting... Had to cut all the body mounts off. I probably had a good 2-3 hours total of grinding... Hands felt like they were asleep when done. I have a cheapo Makita $60 Home Depot grinder. Thing is like a Toyota, just keeps going and going. Will be my second pig built with it I suppose, probably my favorite / most useful tool, has hours and hours on it and still truckin

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Next did some more work on rearing down the 55. This has been a painfully slow process but mostly because I haven't had the time to do it lately. Also, if the pig were inside the shop instead of sitting outside, I think it would go a lot quicker but esepcially because of the heat lately, I have only had about 2-3 hours (early evening before sunset) where I can really tear into it... But I am hoping to:

1) Cut the 80 frame and remount axles and getting rolling again shortly.
2) Then 2, get it off the 55 frame off the 55, and get that on the 80 frame, and bring into the shop here, shortly...
3) Start lining everything up in terms of getting the 55 body on the 80 frame.. New motor mounts etc..



I was in the engine bay mostly then a little bit under the dash... Got the wiper motor out and the heater and some other items...

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Here is some lovely welded in PO mod, gone now. Also got the blower motor out. I am saving everything but the plan is to use the 'modernized' 80 series blower motor. I am also hoping to use the 80 series AC as well... You can see it is dusk here. Today it is finally a cooler day (raining a little, first time in ages) so hopefully I can get this torn quickly.. Plan is to remove fenders and front clip before attempting to put on 80 series frame..



PS -- Does anyone have a wiring diagram for a 93 FZJ 80 that I could borrow??

 

[Trollhole]

Very nice.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Then, I started talking with the sand blaster and was thinking I would only take the axles down for now, paint them up and the links, then remount them to the frame after I make the 6" cut. Then roll under the truck, weld on body mounts and engine mounts / etc, then take all of that back to the sand blaster (with body) and do it all then. Problem with that is lots of wirewheeling and I would really prefer to be doing all of these frame mods with a clean frame. Problem with this is flash rusting, in air/humidity the frame can start rusting out of thin air when bare metal. So I have two solutions to this. They said they could reblast quickly and lightly, said it would take no time at all, something like $20-$30 (I will probably have them do this) --OR-- I might buy this $30 harbor frieght blaster and redo it myself since it will be quick and fairly easy. But I have a feeling I'll be leaning towards having them reblast when I bring the body down....

SO -- I decided to go ahead and have them blast the frame and the axles and here they are and this is where I am at. Of course it turned out awesome. That is the color of raw steel, no primer.. Of course I am pretty pyched to have this thing so clean and rust free of course

From top pic you can really see where they got some of the rust out. They said total labor time to sand blast the whole frame was about 1 hour. Was two hours in with axles and everything, total was about $183 with tax...

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Wish I had more photos of the axles, those turned out really well as well of course. I might take some more later.. Here is what I have. The axles look basically like the frame, same coloration. Guys were very good, they did everything inwards from the brake plates (rear axle) and knuckles (front axle) but avoided the e-locker mechanism...

 

[notagp_afj55]

Andre

Just so you know, i was not the previous owner who welded that vacumn transfer
lever to the firewall. I could neve figure out why he did that either

-Jim

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

No prob of course Jim! We got a lot done tonight, I'll post pics tomorrow..

 

[Radd Cruisers]

Just an idea, instead of spraying on epoxy right away, maybe weld through primer for the first little while for health concerns.


Rob

 

[Bennett]

Looking good............

so is the frame full of sand ?

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Just an idea, instead of spraying on epoxy right away, maybe weld through primer for the first little while for health concerns.


Rob

You mean health concerns of welding on a painted frame?? This was my logic for not painting the frame, just leaving as is..

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Looking good............

so is the frame full of sand ?

Actually not too bad believe it or not.. I will blow and shop vbac out as best as possible though..

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Some more.. Had a great night last night, friend Damon showed up around 6 and we really cranked...

First, picked up a cheapo Harbor Freight HVLP spray gun, gallon of zero rust, and POR marine clean and metal ready...

I wasn't sure about the Harbor Friegh gun cause it seems about 1/3 of the crap I have bought there I regretted but I heard good things about it from Berg and his friend who actually prefers it (uses more poaint of course with more overspray) than a really high end gun for painting cars. I have a cheapo paint sprayer gun that came with my airtools kit a few years ago but it usues something like 13 cfm and this uses about 4. Even then, my 26 gallon compressor could barely keep up...

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Decided to paint the axles with the Zero Rust to prevent flash rusting espcially because they will have pretty much no modifications to them from how they are now, unlike the frame...

First, sprayed metal ready. Then let sit about 10-15 minutes. In first photo you can see it eating crap off the axles, it turned white and fuzzy... Then ironically you completely wash the axles with water. In both cases I used a spray bottle to douse, both the metal ready and the water...

Then strangely it dries this whiteish color. You can literally smell the metal ready eating any contaminents off the axle, smells like rotten eggs, real sulphury smell

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Here is photo of the HVLP gun.. My first time with a gun of this type (hooked to air compressor) so did some trial before.. Luckily these are just axles so it was pretty easy. Pysched cause again took only about 20 oz for two whole coats on the axles.. Gallon was $60 out the door but using only 20 ox turned out cheaper than rattle can, even for the expensive zero rust..

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Then, got into tearing into the 55 and **finally** got this done.. Tore down fenders and front clip.. Then dropped the frame from the 55 but camera ran out of juice at this point... Anyway...

 

[Wayneraintree]

lookin good Andre! are you using those fenders or doing tube? How about for the quarters?

 

[Radd Cruisers]

Yep, your health unless you have a proper cartrige system that fits under your welding helmet.

Zero rust will attack your nervious sytem and do some harm, wear a proper cartrige when spraying that stuff.

To prevent micro rust after blasting there are several good weld through primers that keep out the moisture.

You mean health concerns of welding on a painted frame?? This was my logic for not painting the frame, just leaving as is..

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Yep, your health unless you have a proper cartrige system that fits under your welding helmet.

Zero rust will attack your nervious sytem and do some harm, wear a proper cartrige when spraying that stuff.

To prevent micro rust after blasting there are several good weld through primers that keep out the moisture.

Cool and good to know. any brand names that come to mind? I wore a restirator while spraying, you should see the warning labels on the zero rust..

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

lookin good Andre! are you using those fenders or doing tube? How about for the quarters?

Baiscally going to do the same thing I did last time. Stock fenders and quarters (sand blasted and in good shape before paint), but weld in sliders at the rocker panel. In the rear, this time traditional sliders... You all will see, I can wait to get to that point andre